After this hard landing, today's photo shows this flight was not quite as far as the Wright Flyer. And I wouldn't say the flight could be defined as ‘controlled' either.
The first flight of the Wright Flyer lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. I don't know how long this land rover's flight lasted but the lateral distance traveled while airborne was probably less than 40 feet.
The peg at the top of the dune marks the takeoff point. The next set of pegs mark first impact of the front end.
The vehicle then flipped end over end depositing the tires, windshield, and other stuff then bounced a few times before planting all four wheels at the closest set of pegs.
Most impressive was the lack of damage to the two crew members who stayed with the vehicle and the lack of damage to the whip antenna on the front bumper.
The passenger by the open door jumped out while the land rover was airborne! I'm not sure what he was thinking but it was an impressive feat of acrobatics executed in a very short span of time.
[ad name=”post”]